Laurent Aubanel has been awarded the HIRN 2023 prize, awarded each year by the Tribology Scientific and Technical Group of the AFM (Association Française de Mécanique), for the best tribology thesis of the year, entitled “Étude du comportement tribologique en régime lubrifié de revêtments Cold Spray composites à base d’acier”, in collaboration with the Renault group.
It was carried out under the joint supervision of Alain Thorel, CMAT Research Director, Michel Jeandin, his predecessor in this position, and Francesco Delloro, Lecturer and Research Associate.
Graduating as a Materials Engineer, Laurent Aubanel was working at the automaker on the development and deployment of technologies enabling the production of linings in gasoline engine cylinders throughout the Group’s plants. He started this part-time thesis in 2018, in parallel with his activity, to improve the tribological performance of this system via the use of innovative materials. In this way, he studied Cold Spray coatings and their surface finish, which reduced piston friction in the cylinders by around 35%, and thus achieved an estimated 1.4% gain in the engine’s CO2 emissions.
In 2023, Laurent Aubanel was also honored with the SF2M-Bodycote prize, which recognized his innovative work in the field of surface treatment of metallic materials.
Michel Jeandin was awarded the IFHTSE (International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering) medal in recognition of his significant career, spanning 42 years at the École.
A visionary in the creation of partnerships between the academic and industrial worlds, Michel Jeandin has trained some fifty young scientists over the course of his career in thesis work on materials and surface functionalization. Author of over 400 publications and some twenty patents, Michel Jeandin also initiated the “Cold spray” club, bringing together members of the international community in this field.
His work, dedicated to research into materials and their treatment, particularly surfaces, has been recognized with this prestigious award.
Moreover, in the same year, his appointment as a member of the ASM-Int (American Society of Materials-International) Hall of Fame underlined his significant impact in the field of thermal spraying, particularly in the development of Cold Spray. His contributions have been crucial to our understanding of deposition processes and phenomena at the particle interface under shock conditions.
A video summary of Michel Jeandin’s work was released on the occasion of the presentation of his IFHTSE medal in Yokohama:
Stay tuned: Cold Spray technology, in which the Centre des Matériaux Mines Paris – PSL is at the forefront, will be the subject of an upcoming news item.
Transmission electron microscopy image of a thin longitudinal section of a titanium particle after cold spray impact on TA6V titanium alloy, showing the extent of the metallurgical and mechanical phenomena taking place.